Are you a Windows user who received a brand new Mac system over the holidays? Or, did you choose to make the switch yourself and you’re just getting to know your new Mac? There are a lot of important things to learn in order to stay efficient if you’re just making this switch. In this post, I’ll round up top tips to brush up on so that you can work better, faster and more securely on your new computer.
Get to Know Finder. Mac OS X is much better than Windows at quickly finding what you need on your computer. Click the icon that looks like two smiley faces staring at each other (above) to work with Finder. If you’ve used iTunes at all, you’ll find the interface for Finder to be very similar. In your sidebar, you’ll have a view of everything on your Mac, and everything connected to it. If you’re running the Leopard version of Mac OS X, use the Cover Flow button atop your Finder screen to get a slick graphical view of your documents and files.
New Keyboard Shortcuts. Keyboard shortcuts are quite different in Mac OS X than in Windows. Apple has a complete list of keyboard shortcuts. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with them. A few top shortcuts to note: Command-W (close window); Option-Command-W (close all windows); Shift-Command-Q (Apple menu logout); Option-Command-D (show or hide the Dock). Also look into the many keyboard shortcuts for working with windows in Mac OS X.
Learn How to Use the Dock. The Dock (the toolbar with icons at the bottom of your Mac OS X screen, seen below) is an extremely useful navigational tool. Do a little homework on shortcuts and hidden features for it, available at Apple’s site.
Hardware Tips. Apple systems are different from PCs in several ways. You may have a Power button directly on your keyboard, rather than your computer. If so, it looks like a circle with a slash through it. How do you do the equivalent of a right mouse click in Windows? To do so, hold down the Control key on your keyboard and click the mouse to bring up a context menu. Also, on your keyboard, the Command/Apple key is the replacement for the Ctrl key on a Windows system, and the Option key is the replacement for the Alt key.
Going on Safari. If you’re used to the Internet Explorer, Firefox or Opera browsers on Windows, spend a little time brushing up on the Safari browser. There are quick video tutorials online for how to use tabs in Safari and how to configure your RSS feeds.
Investigate Free Mac Apps. There are a lot of good developers out there who provide good, free software applications for the Mac, and you can quickly download lots of gems. Investigate TinyApps.org’s long list of Mac OS X apps, and Version Tracker, and see my previous post and the reader comments there on other sites for finding free, useful applications.
Easy Uninstalls. One of the really nice features about the Mac operating system as opposed to Windows is that you’re applications don’t get littered all around your hard drive; instead, they’re in one central Program folder. Just drag an application from the folder to the trash can to uninstall.
Optimize Your Improved Wi-Fi. If you have a new Mac notebook and you previously used 802.11g Wi-Fi for your home wireless networking with Windows, you can greatly improve the Wi-Fi performance you get by purchasing an Apple Airport Extreme router. These routers use next-generation Draft-802.11n wireless technology, which you should have in your new Mac notebook as well. The performance is miles ahead of 802.11g Wi-Fi with a Windows notebook.
Stick with Windows. Many Mac users now run both Windows and the Mac OS on their machines. A good way to do this is to run Parallels, which lets you have Windows as a virtual machine on your Mac. You can also use Apple’s own Boot Camp software.
Taking Screenshots. Taking screenshots doesn’t work on the Mac the same way that it does in Windows. Review Apple’s notes for quick ways to get up to speed.
Built-In Security. Mac OS X ships with firewall software built in. Especially if you use public Wi-Fi hotspots a lot, get to know your configuration options with the firewall.
There are many other good sources online for information on switching from Windows to the Mac. A little research is well worth the effort.
Do you have any good tips for new Mac users coming from the Windows world?